Initialization method for one-way communications and apparatus for use therewith

ABSTRACT

A method of simulating two-way communications over a one-way communications system, enabling an indicator on the transmitter to reflect the manner in which signals from a function key on the transmitter side will be interpreted by an application on the receiver side of the communications system, is carried out by causing a list of current states of the function on the receiver side of the communications system rather than transmitting a signal concerning the current state of the list to the transmitter side. The transmitter side of the communication system is part of a wireless keyboard that does not include a receiver to properly indicate which of two possible states a function of the computer will be in even though the computer has no way of communicating that state to the receiver.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to the field of unidirectional wirelesscommunications, and in particular to a method of causing a statusindicator on the transmitter side of a unidirectional wirelesscommunication system to reflect a status of a function having twopossible initial states on the receiver side of the unidirectionalcommunication system.

The invention also relates to a wireless keyboard arrangement, and to amethod of causing indicator lights on the wireless keyboard to reflectthe status of a function controlled by the keyboard when the initialstatus of the function is unknown.

2. Description of Related Art

(a) Introduction

Many computer peripherals serve primarily as input devices and thereforegenerally communicate with the computer in only one direction. Examplesof such devices include keyboards, scanners, and joysticks or mice.

Even though most of the communications are unidirectional, however, suchinput devices often include status indicators or other features thatrequire synchronization or feedback from the computer, and therefore atleast intermittent bi-directional communications capabilities.

This situation occurs, for example, in the case of a keyboard havingindicator lights that must reflect the status of functions toggled bykeys on the keyboard, i.e., functions that switch between two stateseach time a key on the keyboard is pressed, but whose initial state canbe arbitrarily switched so that when communications are firstestablished, the state of the function is unknown to the keyboard andtherefore cannot be reflected by the indicator. In that case, it hasconventionally been considered essential to provide some way for thecomputer to send status signals to the keyboard, at least duringinitialization, that in effect synchronize the indicator to thepreviously unknown state of the corresponding function.

Although the invention may have broad applicability outside the contextof the keyboard arrangements described in detail below, or possibly evenoutside the context of computer peripherals, the nature of the problemaddressed by the present invention, and of its solution, are clearlydemonstrated by the keyboard example. Essentially, the problem ariseswhen the conventional wires connecting the keyboard and other peripheralare replaced by a wireless communications arrangement.

Because of the unidirectional nature of most of the communications, itis seldom cost effective to include both a transmitter and a receiver onthe keyboard, and therefore the conventional wireless keyboard orperipheral input device does not include a receiver, eliminating thepossibility of two-way communication with a computer.

As a result, the conventional wireless peripheral has generally beendesigned to eliminate any features, such as indicator lights, thatrequire signals to be sent from the computer to the peripheral, oppositethe primary direction of data flow. The present invention, on the otherhand, effectively simulates the bidirectional communications of theconventional wired communications system, allowing the features such asindicator lights to be included in the wireless peripheral, even thoughonly unidirectional communications are permitted.

(b) The Conventional Wired Keyboard

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a conventional wired keyboardarrangement made up of a keyboard 1 connected to a computer 2 by a wire3. As is well-known, the keyboard 1 includes certain control keys thatcause keyboard-interpretation or display functions of the computer totoggle between one of two states. Each time one of these control keys ispressed, a signal is sent to the computer that causes the displayfunction to change its state.

Examples of display functions toggled in this manner include:

(i) a “Num Lock” function, controlled by a “Num Lock” key, which causesthe program in the computer that interprets signals received from keyson a numeric keypad to be toggled, or switched back and forth, between astate in which the signals are interpreted as numbers and a state inwhich the keys control movement of a cursor,

(ii) a “Caps Lock” function, controlled by a “Caps Lock” key, whichcauses the program in the computer that interprets signals received fromletter keys to be toggled between a state in which the signals areinterpreted as small letters and a state in which the signals areinterpreted as capital letters, and

(iii) a “Scroll Lock” function, toggled on and off by a “Scroll Lock”key which controls scrolling or movement of text and images verticallyon a monitor or display.

In order to enable the user of the keyboard to keep track of the currentstate of these functions, indicator lights 4-6 are included on thekeyboard. Each time one of the corresponding control keys is pressed,the indicator lights are toggled on and off. In the case of theabove-listed functions, illumination of the indicator lightsrespectively indicates that the signals from keys on the numeric keypadare being interpreted as numbers, that signals from letter keys arebeing interpreted and displayed as capital letters, and that the displayis being prevented from scrolling text and images. The indicator lightsmay be placed on the keys themselves, or elsewhere on the keyboard, butin any case are positioned so that the user of the keyboard can easilyrefer to them by glancing down at the keyboard.

Signals originating from the keyboard are generally interpreted by theoperating system or basic input/output system (BIOS) program installedin the computer, so that commands can be input through the keyboard assoon as the computer is turned on. In order to keep track of the currentstatus of the control functions, the operating system maintains lists orfiles containing entries concerning the current status of the controlfunctions. For convenience, the entries for the control functions areillustrated in FIG. 1 as being in the form of a single status table 7,although in practice different control function entries may be stored inmultiple different memory areas or files on the computer. In use, eachtime one of the control keys is pressed, the appropriate entry on thetable 7 is updated and referred to by the currently running program sothat signals from the numeric keypad or letter keys will be correctlyinterpreted, and/or so that scroll instructions in a program implementedas desired.

In some cases, the initial setting of the control function may be set byconvention. For example, it is convenient to always set the Scroll Lockfunction to an off state when the computer is turned on. However, inother cases, preferences as to the initial state of the function canvary, and thus the operating system may be designed to permit theinitial state of the control function to be programmed. For example, theinitial state of the Num Lock can be set to either of the two possiblestates using a command that can be included in the Autoexec batch fileof a DOS or Windows™ computer . In the illustrated example, the Num Lockfunction is on, so that the computer will initially interpret signalsfrom the numeric keypad as numbers rather than cursor movement commands,while signals from the letter keys are interpreted as small letters andthe scroll lock function is off. Subsequent to turning on the computer,functions corresponding to the default status table entries are toggledeach time a signal from one of the control keys is received, but theentries will appear as in FIG. 1 whenever the computer is turned on,until intentionally changed by, for example, editing the Autoexec batchfile, irrespective of the state of the functions when the computer isturned off.

In order to indicate to the user the status of the functions in thisexample, it is necessary to turn the Num Lock indicator on when thecomputer is turned on, while leaving the Caps Lock and Scroll Lockindicators off. However, if the initial status of the Num Lock functionis changed, so that when the computer is turned on again, the Num Lockfunction is off, then the Num Lock indicator must initially be turnedoff. As a result, because the status entry could have either of twopossible states when the computer is turned on, and the keyboard doesnot initially know to which state the function has been set, thecomputer must initially send a signal to the keyboard over wire 3indicating the status of the Num Lock function. In the illustratedexample, upon initialization of the computer, a Num Lock ON signal willbe sent to the keyboard, turning the Num Lock indicator on. Aside fromthe initial status of the control functions, no other signals need besent from the computer to the keyboard.

The procedure for synchronizing indicators 4-6 with entries in thedefault status table 7 is summarized in FIG. 2. Whenever aninitialization routine 100 is run, for example whenever the computer isturned on or reset, the computer checks the status entry for allkeyboard functions that can initially be toggled (step 110) and sends acommand to the keyboard (step 120) to light the appropriate LED based onthe state of a corresponding entry in the keyboard function list 7stored in the memory of the computer 2 (step 130). Thereafter, duringthe keyboard data input routine 140 for interpreting signals from thekeyboard, whenever the keyboard function control key is pressed (step150), a signal is sent to the computer to change the entry in the statustable (160), and the corresponding indicator light is changedaccordingly (step 170).

As a result, in this type of system, although the indicator light willremain in synchronism with the status table so long as the computer isrunning and the default table has not been intentionally changed, inorder to achieve the initial synchronization, the keyboard must becapable of receiving signals from the computer that indicate the initialstatus of entries in the status table. The next section will describethe problem addressed by the present invention, which involves wireless-keyboards of the type illustrated in FIG. 3 rather than wired keyboardsof the type illustrated in FIG. 2.

(c) The Problem—One Way Wireless Communications Systems

Although the conventional wired keyboard control arrangement has provencompletely satisfactory, and is widely used, a problem arises in thecase of wireless keyboards. In order to eliminate cables and enable moreflexible use of the keyboard, wireless keyboard arrangements have beendeveloped that include a receiver wired to the computer and atransmitter for sending signals representative of pressed keys to thereceiver. However, as mentioned above, because the vast majority ofcommunications between the keyboard and the computer are from thekeyboard to the computer, it is generally uneconomical to include areceiver on the keyboard, and thus the conventional wireless keyboardsystem only permits unidirectional communication from the keyboard tothe computer, eliminating the possibility of having the computer signalthe initial status of entries in the status table so that the indicatorwill assume the appropriate ON or OFF status according to the initialstate of the status table entries, and thereafter remain in synchronismwith the function whenever it is toggled. Consequently, it is impossiblein a conventional wireless keyboard system for the keyboard to determinehow the computer is set to interpret the initial state of the keyboardfunction keys.

The conventional solution to this problem is demonstrated by thekeyboard arrangement illustrated in FIG. 3, which includes a keyboard 8having a transmitter 9 for communicating with a receiver 10. Receiver 10is connected by a wire 11 to the computer 12, and includes indicatorlights 13-15 that depend on initial status updates from status entries16 stored in the computer. The reason that the indicator lights 13-15are mounted on the receiver 10, rather than on the keyboard 8, is ofcourse because the receiver can receive default status signals from thecomputer via wire 11, the keyboard control routine being exactly thesame as the one illustrated in FIG. 2, with the only difference beingthe position of the indicator lights on the receiver rather than on thecomputer.

Although positioning of the indicator lights in this manner eliminatesthe need for a receiver on the keyboard, however, such positioning ofthe indicator lights away from the keyboard is often not satisfactory.For example, because most keyboard users are accustomed to the indicatorlights being on the keyboard, the user will be greatly inconvenienced ifthe keyboard is located far from the computer, or at an angle whichmakes the indicator lights difficult to see, resulting in reduced typingefficiency as time is wasted re-typing incorrectly interpreted commandsdue to the control key having been unintentionally pressed.

(d) Generalization of the Wireless Keyboard Indicator Problem

The problem of illuminating indicator lights on a keyboard in a wirelesskeyboard system may be generalized, as illustrated in FIG. 4, to anyone-way communications system in which toggle commands associated withan indicator or other status dependent function 40 are sent by atransmitter 41 to a receiver 42 in order to toggle a control function 43at the receiver side whose initial status is unknown by the transmitterside, and in which the status dependent function 40 on the transmitterside must be synchronized with the receiver side function 43. While theprinciples of the present invention may not be applicable to all sucharrangements, it is intended that the present invention be considered tocover all arrangements of the type illustrated in FIG. 4 except those towhich the principles of the invention, described below, cannot beapplied, to the extent that such coverage is permitted by the prior art.

Essentially, the invention is intended to apply to any one-waycommunications system, whether wired or not, that is intended to replacea two-way communications system of the type in which toggle commands areverified by providing an indicator or other feature responsive toconfirmation signals transmitted in a direction opposite the directionallowed by the one-way communications system, in order to ensure thatthe indicator or other feature is synchronized with the current state ofthe function controlled by the toggle commands. In addition, thefunctions to which the invention may be applied are intended toencompass functions other than the control key functions mentionedabove, so that by way of example, if the toggle commands cause afunction to change from state A to state B, then the indicator mustinitially indicate state A and subsequently indicate state B, even insituations where the initial state of the function could be either A orB.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is accordingly an objective the invention to provide a method ofsimulating two-way communications over a one-way communications systemby enabling an indicator on the transmitter to reflect the manner inwhich signals from a function key on the transmitter side will beinterpreted by an applications program on the receiver side of thecommunications system.

It is a further objective of the invention to provide a method ofenabling a wireless keyboard that does not include a receiver toproperly indicate which of two possible states a function of thecomputer will be in, even though the computer has no way ofcommunicating that state to the receiver.

It is yet another objective of the invention to provide a method ofcausing indicator lights positioned on a wireless keyboard to confirmthe on/off status of functions controlled by function keys on a wirelesskeyboard without knowing the default state that determines the manner inwhich the computer interprets the function signals, and which can beimplemented in a low cost manner utilizing existing procedures andequipment wherever possible.

It is a still further objective of the invention to provide a wirelesskeyboard arrangement in which the on/off status various functionstoggled by keys on the keyboard is indicated by lights on the keyboardeven though the wireless keyboard does not include a receiver forreceiving status indication signals.

Finally, it is yet another objective of the invention to provide awireless keyboard arrangement in which the wireless keyboard includeson-board indicator lights, and which can easily be substituted for aconventional wired or wireless keyboard without the need for modifyingthe operating system of the computer to accommodate the modifiedwireless keyboard arrangement.

The objective of enabling an indicator on the transmitter side of theone way communication system to reflect the status of a function on thereceiver side of the one-way communications system is achieved, inaccordance with the principles of a preferred embodiment of theinvention, by substituting for the status indicator signal from thereceiver side a program that changes the default status on the receiverside.

In the case of a wireless keyboard, the preferred embodiment eliminatesthe need for sending an initial status signal, which indicates thedefault state of the function based on an entry in the status table, byhaving the wireless keyboard, upon power up, send a status signal to thecomputer and force the entry in the table to conform to a predeterminedindicator status. As a result of this simple modification of theconventional initiation procedure, the wireless keyboard and thecomputer are synchronized without the need for sending a status signalfrom the computer to the keyboard.

In an especially preferred embodiment of the invention, the function ofcomparing the initial status of the indicator with an default statusentry and commanding a change in the default status entry is carried outby a simple circuit included in the receiver, or by correspondingsoftware in the receiver, so that the computer does not need to beprogrammed to carry out the initial comparison and command functions,enabling the preferred wireless keyboard arranged to more easily besubstituted for a conventional wired or wireless keyboard arrangement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional wired keyboard system.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a conventional method of initializing anindicator light in the wired keyboard system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a conventional wireless keyboard system,which only permits one-way communications.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a more general unidirectionalcommunications system to which the principles of the invention may beapplied.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a one-way wireless communications systemconstructed according to the principles of a preferred embodiment of theinvention, and in particular of a wire keyboard arrangement havingindicator lights on the keyboard.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method of simulating bi-directionalcommunications in the one-way communications system of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram of a possible circuit arrangement for theindicator lights included on the keyboard of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7B is a schematic diagram of a possible circuit arrangement for thereceiver in the system of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 5 illustrates a wireless keyboard arrangement constructed inaccordance with the principles of a preferred embodiment of theinvention. The keyboard arrangement of FIG. 5 includes a keyboard 20having a transmitter 21 arranged to transmit infrared or radio frequencysignals to a receiver connected to or located in a computer 22. Thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that computer 22 may be a personalcomputer, a notebook computer, or any other computing device orelectronic appliance capable of receiving and interpreting signals fromthe keyboard.

While the transmitter 21 and receiver 22 are generally identical instructure and function to the transmitter 9 and receiver 10 of theconventional wireless keyboard arrangement illustrated in FIG. 3, andthe keyboard 20 may be otherwise arranged in the same manner asconventional wireless keyboard 8, unlike keyboard 8, wireless keyboard20 includes indicator lights 24-26 corresponding in function toindicator lights 4-5 of the conventional wired keyboard. In particular,by way of example, wireless keyboard 20 may include, but is not limitedto, a Num Lock indicator 24, a Caps Lock indicator 25, and a Scroll Lockindicator 26 having the functions described above in connection withFIG. 1.

Indicators may be wired to the corresponding function keys in the samemanner as in the conventional keyboard, but instead of initially settingthe flip flop or similar bistable multivibrator circuit by means of adefault status input signal from the computer and triggering a change inthe output state of circuit when a corresponding control key is pressedas in the conventional keyboard, the indicator lights of the preferredembodiment have a preset initial state.

As illustrated in FIG. 7A, the preset initial state of the indicatorlights can, by way of example, easily be implemented by connecting the“set” input of a flip flop 28 to a constant or reference voltage source,or to a voltage source that can be adjusted by a switch on the keyboarditself to set the preferred initial state, referred to in FIG. 7A as theinitial status input, the output of the flip flop 28 being connected tothe indicator light and toggled ON and OFF each time the correspondingfunction key is pressed, and the initial status input being furthersupplied to the transmitter circuit 21 for inclusion in an indicatorstatus signal portion of the initialization packet. This implementationhas the advantage of requiring minimal modification of the conventionalarrangement, although numerous other arrangements by which the indicatoris switched on and of f and the status of the indicator determined arealso possible, and the invention is not intended to be limited to anyspecific circuitry for accomplishing these functions.

The transmitter circuit 21 simply adds one bit for each indicator to thecommunications packet or signal by which it transmits initialization orsynchronization information to the computer, the one bit indicating theinitial state of the indicator. This bit is then used by the operatingsystem or other program on the computer to set the default status tableso that the initial state of the indicator is the same as the entry forthe corresponding function in the default status table 27. Thereafter,the computer may respond to toggle commands from the keyboard in exactlythe same manner as it responds to commands from the keyboardsillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3.

Upon receipt of a signal containing the indicator light status signal,the computer must determine whether the default table status is the sameas the indicator light status. While this could be accomplished by theoperating software, it is more practical to build the comparisoncapability into the receiver 22, in order to avoid having to modify thecomputer in order to use the preferred wireless keyboard. In the exampleillustrated in FIG. 7B, the receiver circuitry includes a comparisoncircuit 29 having as inputs the indicator status signal transmitted bythe wireless keyboard 20, and a default status signal received from thecomputer 23. Since conventional computers are already programmed to senda default status signal, as described above, no modification of thebasic computer operating system is necessary. The output of circuit 29illustrated in FIG. 7B is a signal that indicates whether there is adifference between the indicator status signal and the default statussignal, the output being supplied to the computer to toggle theappropriate entry in the default status table 27 whenever a differenceis detected.

The preferred method of synchronizing indicator lights 24-26 withentries in default status table 27 is illustrated in FIG. 6. In contrastto the conventional bi-directional keyboard communications protocol, inwhich the computer operating system first checks the default status ofany functions that are controlled by function keys on the keyboard andthen transmits a default status to the keyboard, the initializationroutine 200 for the unidirectional communications protocol of thepreferred method begins in step 210 by checking the status of indicatorslocated on the wireless keyboard. Step 210 may correspond to theoperation of the circuit illustrated in FIG. 7A.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a wireless keyboard mustinherently include its own power source or a separate connection to apower source, and that when the keyboard is turned-on, it must be ableto initiate communications without prompting from the computer. Step 220is preferably carried out as part of this normal routine by includingthe indicator status signal in the communications packet or signal. Uponreceipt of the status signal by the receiver, the status signal iscompared in step 230 to the default entry in the status table, forexample by using the circuit illustrated in FIG. 7B.

Since the need for synchronization only occurs for functions having adefault status that can be varied by the user, the computer is alreadyarranged to set the default status, and the same program steps used inthe conventional system to set the default status based on user inputcan instead be used in step 240 to set the default status entry based onthe results of the comparison step 230. If the status of an indicatorlight does not match the corresponding default status table entry, thereceiver commands the personal computer to force the computer to changethe default status to the actual indicator light status received fromthe wireless keyboard. As a result, the on/off state of any indicatorlights on the wireless keyboard will always be synchronized to thecurrent status of the function carried out by the computer and it is notnecessary for the computer to signal back to the keyboard the status ofthose functions. On the other hand, since the computer must send astatus signal to the receiver in order to enable the comparison step230, operation of the wireless keyboard is essentially transparent tothe computer, so that the wireless keyboard can easily be substitutedfor a conventional wired keyboard.

Once the status entry in the default status table is set to the initialindicator status, the keyboard communications program can be carried outusing the same routine 250 as in the conventional arrangementillustrated in FIG. 2. Each time the function key is pressed (step 260),the toggle command is transmitted from the keyboard to the computer(step 270), and the status entry and indicator are toggled accordingly(step 280). As in the conventional arrangement, these steps can becarried out by software or appropriately designed hardware, includingthe hardware schematically shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the principles of theembodiment described above may be extended to arrangements other thanwireless keyboard arrangements. In general, the method of the inventioncan be applied to any one-way communication system in which an indicatoron the transmitter side of the system is required to reflect the statusof a function on the receiver side of the system, by toggling thefunction to reflect the status of the indicator rather than causing theindicator to reflect the initial status of the function.

Having thus described various preferred embodiments of the invention,those skilled in the art will appreciate that variations andmodifications of the preferred embodiment may be made without departingfrom the scope of the invention. It is accordingly intended that theinvention not be limited by the above description or accompanyingdrawings, but that it be defined solely in accordance with the appendedclaims.

I claim:
 1. A method of causing an indicator light on a transmitter sideof a one-way communication system between a transmitter and a receiverto reflect a status of a function on a receiver side of the one-waycommunication system, said indicator light having a current status whichchanges each time said function is toggled by commands from thetransmitter side, comprising the steps of: (a) transmitting an initialstatus of the indicator light to the receiver; and (b) if an initialstatus of said indicator light does not match a default entry in a listof default statuses for functions toggled by commands from thetransmitter side, said list of default statuses being on the receiverside of the one-way communication system, changing said default entry toreflect the initial status of the indicator light on the transmitterside of the one-way communications system, whereby the initial status ofsaid indicator light is thereby caused to correctly indicate a defaultstatus of said function even when said default entry in the list ofdefault statuses does not initially correspond to the initial status ofsaid indicator light.
 2. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein thetransmitter is a transmitter of a wireless keyboard, the indicator lightis situated on the wireless keyboard, and the receiver is connected to acomputer, and wherein step (a) comprises the step of sending a currentstatus of the indicator light to the computer, and step (b) comprisesthe steps of comparing the current status of the indicator light with anentry on the status list and changing the entry on the default statuslist to reflect the state of the indicator light.
 3. A method as claimedin claim 2, wherein the function is selected from the group consistingof a Num Lock function, a Caps Lock function, and a Scroll Lockfunction.
 4. A method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the step ofcomparing the indicator light status with the entry on the defaultstatus list is carried out by the receiver upon receipt from thekeyboard of the indicator light status signal and upon receipt from thecomputer of a signal indicating the entry on the default status list,and wherein the step of changing the entry on the default status list iscarried out by sending a signal reflecting a result of the comparisonfrom the receiver to the computer when a difference between theindicator light status and the default status list entry is detected. 5.A method as claimed in claim 1, further comprising the step of togglingthe state of the indicator light each time a corresponding functioncommand is transmitted by the keyboard.
 6. A method as claimed in claim1, wherein the one-way communication system is a wireless one-waycommunication system.
 7. A method as claimed in claim 1, wherein thereceiver is connected to a computer and wherein the transmitter isconnected to a computer peripheral.
 8. A wireless keyboard arrangement,comprising: a wireless keyboard having a transmitter and an indicatorlight and means for transmitting a state of said indicator light; areceiver connected to a computer; means in the receiver for receiving acommand from the wireless keyboard to toggle a function; means in thekeyboard for causing said indicator light to toggle in response topressing a key on said keyboard; means in the computer for storing alist of default states of the function; and means in the receiver forcomparing said list of default states of the function with said state ofsaid indicator light, and for commanding the computer to set an entry inthe list of default states to correspond to the state of the indicatorlight, thereby synchronizing the indicator light with the entry, wherebyan initial state of said indicator light is thereby caused to correctlyindicate a default state of said function even when said entry in thelist of default states does not initially correspond to the state ofsaid indicator light.
 9. Apparatus for causing a feature on atransmitter side of a one-way communication system between a transmitterand a receiver to reflect a status of a function on a receiver side ofthe one-way communication system, wherein: the transmitter is arrangedto transmit a status of the feature to the receiver; and the receiver isarranged to generate a command for changing an entry in a list ofdefault statuses for functions toggled by commands from the transmitterside, said list of default statuses being on the receiver side of theone-way communication system, to reflect the status of the feature onthe transmitter side of the one-way communications system, wherein thetransmitter is a transmitter of a wireless keyboard, the feature is alight on the wireless keyboard, and the receiver is connected to acomputer, and wherein the transmitter is arranged to transmit a currentstatus of the indicator light to the computer and the receiver isarranged to compare the current status of the indicator light with anentry on the status list and to command a change in the entry on thedefault status list to reflect the state of the indicator light. 10.Apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the feature is an functionstatus indicator.
 11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein thetransmitter is a transmitter of a wireless keyboard, the indicator is alight on the wireless keyboard, and the receiver is connected to acomputer, and wherein the transmitter is arranged a current status ofthe indicator light to the computer and the receiver is arranged tocompare the current status of the indicator light with an entry on thestatus list and to command a change in the entry on the default statuslist to reflect the state of the indicator light.
 12. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 11, wherein the function is selected from the groupconsisting of a Num Lock function, a Caps Lock function, and a ScrollLock function.
 13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein thereceiver is arranged to compare the indicator light status with theentry on the default status list upon receipt from the keyboard of theindicator light status signal and upon receipt from the computer of asignal indicating the entry on the default status list, the receiverbeing arranged to thereupon send a signal reflecting a result of thecomparison to the computer when a difference between the indicator lightstatus and the default status list entry is detected.
 14. Apparatus asclaimed in claim 9, wherein the one-way communication system is awireless one-way communication system.
 15. Apparatus as claimed in claim9, wherein the receiver is connected to a computer and wherein thetransmitter is connected to a computer peripheral.